Present
by TL-chan
Summary: Perhaps it was wrong to care, but Buguese couldn't keep neglecting something so important. Slight BugueseAqune


Disclaimer: I still don't own Spider Riders.

AN: I get way too many random ideas. I honestly have no idea if birthdays are even celebrated in the Inner World, but since nobody ever said they weren't, I came up with this.

While it seemed like an ordinary day and in most respects, it was, Buguese had known that there was something distinctively different about it. He wasn't sure if Aqune realized it or cared, but it happened to concern her. Today was the anniversary of the day he had found her. Her birthday, of sorts, because nobody was aware of the actual day she was born. He had never exactly done anything to celebrate it before, just quietly acknowledged it, but he would never forget it.

Because he had been busy with things for most of the day, Buguese hadn't had the time to even see his human so far. He purposely passed by her parlor when going through the halls of the fortress. She was inside as he suspected, seemingly too focused on her chanting to notice him watching her. That was probably a good thing, as he wasn't sure she'd want him to be there. At least, he probably wouldn't like it if someone was constantly watching him.

Though the Insector wasn't even sure why, he wondered if there was anything he could do for the girl for the day. She was supposed to be the one serving him, but the couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty that he had never done anything for her for her birthday. He didn't know exactly what Aqune would want, though. Perhaps to be freed and to go live with the Spider Riders, but he certainly couldn't do that, for a number of reasons. She didn't seem to have many interests, aside from praying to the Oracle, which wasn't something Buguese cared about enough to encourage. He couldn't stop her, however, because it was the only means of providing his people with sunlight until they captured all the Oracle Keys. Aqune never did much else, just go and fight against the Spider Riders occasionally and cook all the time… which gave him an idea. Maybe she was tired of doing this. Maybe she'd want someone to cook for her, so she could just relax. However, he could cook under no circumstances. If he even attempted it, it would only lead to disaster.

Buguese reminded himself that he was not obligated to do anything for Aqune at all. She didn't even deserve to ever get special treatment, being a human and no more valuable than any of his other possessions. He hated being concerned over her at all. It was difficult to avoid this when staring at her though. Maybe, he thought, he could take her out somewhere. There were a few restaurants and while they weren't the nicest of places, (of course the Insectors could never have anything nice, thanks to the Oracle) he could probably at least get special treatment due to his ranking.

Somewhat impulsively, knowing if he didn't get this over with quickly he would start thinking logically again and realize his idea was senseless, he went up to the girl.

"Aqune," he called. "Come!" Before giving her any time to react, he walked out of the room.

"Huh?" Aqune questioned, turning around to see this. She got up obediently though and hurried to catch up to Buguese. "Where are we going?" she asked, once she had done so.

"I haven't decided yet," he replied, not turning around to look at her.

Now even more confused, Aqune looked at him, trying to figure out what was going on. She followed him silently to where he kept his hovering disc-like transport and got onto it after him.

"Um… Aqune…" Buguese spoke up cautiously, breaking the silence between them.

"What is it?" Aqune asked, with some worry. Having no idea what Buguese was up to, she didn't know whether she'd like it or not.

"I have a feeling you don't know what day it is, correct?" he asked.

"Uh… no," replied Aqune. "Should I?"

"No," said Buguese. "It's not important."

"Right," replied Aqune. She didn't get why Buguese asked her such a random question, if it didn't matter anyway. Although, she hadn't understood what he had been doing at all. She was just going along with it, because she had no other choice.

He continued on until they reached a nice area, or at least as nice as he'd be able to find. There was a semi-exclusive restaurant there. Usually, it was more for couples, or so he heard. He had never actually been there himself. Of course, this made it all the more awkward. He was already pushing himself by taking her out, but… well… his Aqune didn't deserve any less. It definitely wasn't like a date, though. Just a favor that she didn't deserve. Fully knowing that all of his thoughts were contradicting themselves, but trying to ignore it, he parked the disc in front of the building.

"Where are we?" Aqune asked. She'd never seen the place before, but found it unusual. It was nicer looking than most of the structures she'd seen in the Insector's land.

"We are going to eat here tonight," he replied. "It must get tiring for you to cook every meal for yourself." At least, Buguese knew that he'd get sick of doing such quickly. Aqune never actually seemed to mind, although she rarely expressed her personal feelings toward anything.

Aqune didn't know what to think. Though she did enjoy cooking, she sometimes wished she could take more breaks from her constant work. It was even stranger to her that Buguese seemed to be going out of his way to be nice to her. He was acting weird, period. It didn't seem to be in a dangerous way, though. "Well… thank you," she said.

He only nodded, as he felt rather embarrassed to be doing something nice for her. He then opened the door and the two entered.

An Insector walked up to them almost as soon as they stepped inside. He looked at the two rather curiously, surprised to see a human entering. However, he immediately recognized the Insector as Buguese, so he was rather intimidated from questioning him about her presence.

"General Buguese," he said nervously. "Uh… welcome to this place. Would you and this human happen to have any reservations? I hadn't heard."

"We do not," Buguese responded.

"Well then," he said. "You are certainly welcome here anyway. I'll show you to your table." He took the two into the seating area and led them to a small, round table near the back. At the center of each table was a candle.

As the chairs were set up that way, Aqune and Buguese sat across from each other. Quickly becoming uncomfortable staring at Buguese, Aqune looked down at the table, noticing the menu which was left there. Picking it up, she began to skim through it nervously.

Buguese hadn't touched his menu yet. He had been too busy studying her, wondering if she was enjoying herself and if this was really a good idea. Although, involuntarily, he began to notice other things than her completely confused expression. The girl looked rather… nice in candlelight. It complimented her, somehow. Catching himself before he stared at her for any longer, he picked up the menu as well and started reading. The dishes seemed to be much better than what was served back at the castle.

A waiter soon appeared at the table, different from the person who had assisted them at the door. This time it was a female.

"Good evening," she said, smiling to them despite the fact that it was strange to serve a human. "I will be serving you tonight. I hope you were able to find something on the menu to your liking." She paused, taking out a pad and pencil. "Would you like anything to drink?" she asked.

"Water will be fine," Aqune said. She'd never had any actual alcoholic drinks before and wasn't about to try now.

"I'll have the same," Buguese said, not really caring.

They then proceeded to order their food. It was all vegetarian, meant for Insectors. Both got a different type of salad to try. They were then left to wait, with only each other's company.

Not having the menu anymore to distract her, Aqune looked at the surrounding area. There seemed to be only couples in the restaurant. She felt completely out of place. Not only was she the only human there, but she wasn't together with Buguese like that. Although, she still hadn't figured out why they were there anyway. She and Buguese as a couple was simply just a strange idea. She hadn't thought of him that way, although she hadn't thought of him in much of any way. He was just always there, like a passing acquaintance.

She wondered just how she did see him. She looked at his face, trying to imagine. He was, well… even somewhat attractive, if she could ever think of him that way. But, it didn't matter how he looked. Seeing how he wasn't even human, he wasn't someone she could actually ever be with, could she? Not that it mattered, because she didn't want that. Besides, if she were to ever be in love with someone, she'd want to be with a kind, thoughtful person. Buguese certainly wasn't like that. It just happened that he decided to take her out for dinner so that she wouldn't have to cook this night. This still didn't make any sense to her.

Soon, the waiter returned, bringing them their meals. They both began to eat, giving them yet another distraction from the awkwardness. It wasn't enough of a distraction, however, as Buguese continued wondering how and if he should explain this to Aqune. All he could tell from her expression is that she still didn't understand. He didn't mean to leave her in confusion. Of course, this proved that he shouldn't have been doing this at all. She obviously hadn't expected a present.

"I was wondering," he began "If you're happy with this, Aqune?"

"Yes," she said. Admittedly, she was. The food was good and she did like that Buguese had done something for her. "However, I still don't understand why we're here."

"I know that," Buguese said. "If you remember, I asked you before if you knew what day it was, but you did not. Today is your birthday." He didn't want to say anymore. This was difficult enough to admit. It wasn't that he didn't want the girl to know that he cared about her, but more that he didn't want to care about her. But it was obvious to him that he did. He had just regretted never doing anything for a human for her birthday and then decided he needed to do something special for her, all in one day. Then he practically took her on, not exactly a date, but to a romantic restaurant.

Aqune now was more shocked than simply confused. She never had a birthday and rarely thought about it. It was just a part of normal life that she had lost, along with her past. But anyway, how did Buguese know about this? He must've thought about her more than she would've imagined. "How do you know?" she asked.

"Well, I don't," Buguese replied. Frustration showed in his voice, mostly at himself for doing this. "It's actually the anniversary of the day you came to be with us. I don't know when you were born or even how old you are." Even if it shouldn't have mattered to him, in a way he wished he did. However, she didn't know and there was no one he could actually ask these things to.

"Oh," Aqune replied, somewhat at a loss for words. "Thank you, Buguese," she said, smiling at him. Maybe it was strange, but it was welcome. She was happy that Buguese perhaps could be kind and thoughtful at times. But, certainly not like someone she'd want to be a couple with, she reminded herself, trying to keep from blushing when she realized how she had just described him.

The Insector's mission had been accomplished. As the type who hated failure, Buguese was pleased that he had succeeded in something. Perhaps it was pointless and he shouldn't have wasted the effort, but he was contented in being able to make Aqune happy.


End file.
